Book aborted: Part the Second

Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (colloquially "LDS" or "Mormon") definitely isn't as hard here as it once was. I've never really been persecuted for what I believe; never been jailed; never been tarred and feathered; never been driven from my home by an angry mob. The worst I have ever endured for the sake of my religion is some snide comments and some ignorant questions. To be clear: I never mind questions if they come from a place of genuinely wanting to know the answer, but I have better things to do with my time than to satisfy idle curiosity or correct ridiculous rumors.

I do find, however, that I occasionally run across references in pop culture that are...less than flattering, let's say. I mean, I get that people do and say dumb things, and I also know it's not the worst thing to have a reference at all, even an unflattering one. Someone might see it and have a real interest and want to know more, and I'm in favor of that.

But when a character in a book points out that she's a vegetarian, and the immediate response is to ask if she's "one of the Latter Day Saints lot...with the funny underwear", and then the response to THAT is to reassure that she's not a cult member...look, it's not so much that offhand idiocy is offensive, or that I am personally bothered by it (though it is and I am.) In this instance, it's that it's so LAZY. First of all, vegetarianism is nowhere in our doctrine, so why would someone, even someone who doesn't know much about it at all, make that logistical leap? Had it been the character turning down alcohol, that would have made a lot more sense. 

That aside: funny underwear and being in a cult? That's the best the author can do? In all the "weird" things about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (and there are some, at least from an outside perspective), she couldn't find a better target? It's in the same vein as stupid criminals for me: if you've decided that path is worth your while, make an effort, at least! Don't be BAD at it, because then what have you gained?

Nothing, is the answer to that, even though Alice Adams got whatever percentage of the price I paid for this book (although it can't be much, since I bought it from the bargain section). There's a decent chance she would have lost my attention anyway; 25 pages of surprisingly large print in, I wasn't invested in either the characters or the story. (I can only assume the font size was chosen to stretch the lackluster prose to a publishable length.) But by shoehorning in a ludicrously cheap shot to satisfy whatever petty antipathy she cherishes, she shifted me from neutral/bored to active dislike.

Title: Invincible Summer

Potentially objectionable content: See above. Plus language and sexual references